A curry the whole family will love – chicken and spinach curry

When we think of curries, whether it be from Thailand, India, Africa or Pakistan, we automatically think of over-powering spice, excessive heat from chillies – if we don’t have a drink of milk to cool our mouths down, we’ll explode feeling – or having too much pepper, which most of us don’t really like. This curry is different.

I have been experimenting with quite a few different curries over the past few months, mainly Indian curries, and I’ve come to realise that:

• not all Indian curries are hot
• not all Indian curries have a sauce/gravy
• Indian curries can be adapted to suit the whole family

Curries from all over the world always take time to prepare and have a lot of ingredients. And this curry is no different but if you’re after a flavour sensation without the heat and looking for something that the whole family will love, then this curry is perfect. It’s probably the curry I’d introduce to my nephews as it’s not a hot, spicy curry.

Looking at this recipe in the Curry Nation cookbook, you would swear it looks more like a soup than a curry. We all think curries have a thick, gravy/sauce, that we enjoy mopping up with some roti or naan bread at the end of the meal. This curry isn’t like that. My adaptation didn’t turn out as ‘soupy’ because of the amount of chicken I added in but it there was enough sauce to be mopped up with some bread.

TIP 1: Ensure you have all your ingredients ready to go when you start cooking. As with Chinese or Thai cooking, everything in this recipe happens quite quickly. It’s good to be prepared so everything just gets thrown in together.

TIP 2: If the spices aren’t something you have in your pantry but you’re interested in cooking this curry, please go out and buy them. They will last up to 6 months, maybe longer, if stored in airtight glass jars away from sunlight. These are the staple spices for any curry. Yet, if you find a green curry paste or powder that has most of these ingredients in it, then give it a try. Let me know what you used and how it turned out – I’m always looking for new ideas with curries.

TIP 3: If your family isn’t too keen on spinach, change it for something the whole family loves. Green beans, pumpkin and cabbage could work really well. I would add these vegetables with the chicken for the last 25 minutes of cooking.

PREP: 25 minutes     COOK: 1 hour   SERVES: 4-6 people

INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
2 dried chillies
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 can (400 grams) whole tomatoes
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
3 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon freshly ground sea salt
½ cup water
6 cubes (250 grams) frozen spinach
½ tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
¼ cup milk
2 skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced

METHOD:
On medium heat, place the oil in a large frypan or saucepan. Add in the onions, chillies and garlic and fry for 15 minutes, until the onion turns golden brown. If you find the onions are burning and sticking to the pan, add a splash of water to stop them from sticking.

Stir in the canned tomatoes, breaking them with the back of the spoon as you stir. Mix in the spices, salt and water until well combined. After two minutes of stirring, mix in the spinach and ginger. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes then stir in the milk.

Add in the chicken and cook, with the lid on, for 25 minutes.

Serve immediately with rice and poppadums, naan or any bread of choice.

Would love to hear what your family thought of this curry or if any changes were made.